Banks, who served more than five years in prison after being wrongly accused
and convicted of raping a female classmate at Poly Tech High School in Long
Beach, California, signed with the Falcons on Wednesday.

He was later exonerated after the woman involved in the case recanted her
claim.

Prior to his arrest and conviction, Banks was a star high school football
player who had a verbal commitment to USC.

Banks received tryouts with the Seattle Seahawks, San Diego Chargers and
Kansas City Chiefs last season. He eventually took part in Seattle's minicamp
last June.

The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Banks ended up spending the 2012 season with Las Vegas
Locomotives of the United Football League, appearing in two games before the
UFL suspended its season in October.

"We are pleased to have Brian join our team," said Falcons general manager
Thomas Dimitroff. "We had a chance to work him out last year and have been
monitoring his progress since then. He has worked extremely hard for this
chance over the last year and he has shown us that he is prepared for this
opportunity. We are happy that Brian will have a chance to live out his dream
of playing in the NFL and we look forward to seeing him on the field."